February and 55 Degrees = Bike Maintenance!

We had an enjoyable breakfast ride this morning. We had some folks out we had not seen for a while, and that is always nice. I elected to keep the ride short this morning because of a long list of tasks to take care of at home … including bike maintenance.

I rely on these nice days because my bike maintenance takes place in the back yard. I had a short but important list for both bikes.

Kona

Degrease, clean, and lube the drive train.

Evaluate the condition of the chain.

Replace rear brakes.

Evaluate the condition of the tires.

Replace rear tire & tube.

Fixie

Degrease, clean, and lube the drive train.

Evaluate the condition of the chain.

Replace the rear brakes.

Evaluate the condition of the tires.

Clean bike.

It is very satisfying to have accomplished these essential tasks.

The Kona maintenance was mostly preemptive. I’m riding another 200k on Monday, and I wanted to make sure everything was in fine working order … especially the rear tire. While there are likely more miles on this tire, the upcoming ride will likely have plenty of debris on it. A new tire handles that a lot better. Let me tell you, a new tire is a beautiful thing!

Look at that new tire compared to the old one.

The Fixie was long overdue for some basic maintenance. I need to order a new chain. The one on it now is shot after riding in all the wet, snowy, gritty, salty weather the past month or so. The chain tester indicates more than 100% wear. I guess I’ll order one soon. This chain has 1700 miles on it. Not bad for a fixie!

I installed “Cool Stop” brakes for the first time. I’ll be interested to see how they function.

This Ride: 27.9 miles
Month: 105.2 miles
2013: 521.3 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 20,294.2 miles

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I’ve had mixed results with Cool Stops. Put em on the road bike first and thought they were great. Put them on the Surly Commuter next (Cantilever’s) and never could get them to stop screaming. Hated them so bad I took them off and threw them away!

Assumed it was probably more a result of the canti’s as opposed to the pads.